13 Years to Comet 67P

flute, clarinet, saxophone, piano, percussion, viola, cello

-OR-

bass clarinet, vibraphone, marimba, piano

This composition follows the journey of the ESA spaceprobe Rosetta to Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko over the course of 13 years, from a scrubbed launch in 2002 to Rosetta’s lander Philae successfully landing on the comet in 2014, and the nominal end of the mission in 2015. The probe took an interesting route, using Earth and Mars as gravity slingshots to catch the comet.

With one minute of music covering one year of the journey, this 13 minute composition aligns with the major events of Rosetta’s 13 year timeline: scrubbed launch; successful launch; Earth gravity assist; Mars gravity assist; Earth gravity assist; asteroid Steins flyby; Earth gravity assist; asteroid Lutetia flyby; enter deep space hibernation; exit deep space hibernation; Rosetta arrives at comet 67P; Philae lands; nominal end of mission.

Septet version premiered by newEar Contemporary Chamber Ensemble, University of Missouri Kansas City, June 2015

Quartet version premiered by Zeitgeist, St. Paul, February 2017

$30 per set

score and parts

(digital license)

fl, cl, sax, pno, perc, vla, vlc

Note: All works on this website are sold as digital scores (PDFs). Order one set for your ensemble to print and a licensed pdf of the score and parts will be emailed to you within 3 business days.

Performed by newEar Contemporary Chamber Ensemble

bcl, vib, mar, pno